Ran Mitake & The Unnecessary Curse
by fallouise
Summary: "If I'm not a kid," Moca continued as if she hadn't heard Ran. "then does that mean I'm an adult?" When it comes to Halloween, Ran still has a lot to learn. Spending their Halloween at a bakery isn't usual if Moca Aoba is involved. Despite that, an unsettling feeling hangs over Ran's head, and it crosses their mind that they shouldn't have come in the first place. (oneshot)


Ran Mitake sensed a bad omen in Yamabuki Bakery.

It wasn't anything about Yamabuki Bakery in particular. Sure, it was Halloween, and it was more crowded than usual. A good amount of the people packed into the bakery were kids which, while not uncommon, was more than what Ran was used to seeing. Fake spiderwebs lined the windows as a scarecrow guarded the entrance. At the cashier, a little jack-o-lantern was lit up in greeting. A healthy stream of people directed themselves around.

No, it wasn't the bakery that gave Ran a sense of foreboding.

"Moca," Ran tested with two syllables.

Their voice was swept away by the masses. Not a single soul glanced their way. And just like that, it was as if Ran had switched on a flashlight, pinpointing what exactly haunted them. Was that a thing? Could Ran actually, really be cursed? To raise their voice and not be heard, Ran couldn't think of a worse omen. It was as if the flashlight's beam had revealed exactly how trapped Ran was. Nothing they could say or do would pierce the veil that they found themselves entombed within.

Moca was somehow involved in this. If anything ever happened to Ran, it almost always had to do with Moca. That was just how the universe worked.

"Moca," they repeated with an edge to their voice, crossing their arms.

"Yeeees, Ran?" Blue eyes blinked at them. Uncombed ivory hair and a lazy manner of speaking—that was Moca Aoba, alright. It was also the name of the one and only person that broke through the curse and heard them. The girl shouldered her way between two adults until she stood in front of Ran.

"Can we leave now?" they asked. _I don't like not being heard_ , they added silently.

"Huh? Silly Rannn," Moca's hands came up to untangle Ran's arms and set them delicately at their sides. With that done, Moca placed her hands on her hips and pouted. Her words came off as teasing more than anything else. "We came all this way to visit Yamabuki Bakery, only for you to say we leave before we buy some bread? Doesn't that sound kinda silly?"

"I just don't see why we had to come on Halloween of all days," Ran admitted.

"You don't know why because you haven't heard," Moca drawled, shoving a hand into the pocket of her denim jacket and searching for something. Her other hand snuck behind her back.

"Where is this going?" Moca pulling something behind her back never ended well.

The girl withdrew both hands to reveal two objects: a crumpled flyer, and a mask. At second glance it was a wolf mask. The cheap, plastic kind that they gave out at festivals, with the white elastic strings that snapped only to torment the poor kids that thought to put them on. Moca pulled the string over her head and slipped the mask on.

She then smoothed the flyer on her thigh, before raising it. " _'Halloween Special!'_ " Moca read, voice muffled by the mask. "' _Come on down to downtown on October 31_ _st_ _. If parents bring their children dressed in costume, participating stores will be offering frightening discounts!_ ' is what it says."

Right. So Moca's costume was a cheap mask, some flannel tied around the waist, and a bag of bread.

Compared to the adorned children running around the bakery, Moca had borrowed flannel from Ran and found a mask that was probably on sale. It would've taken no longer than a single afternoon to toss her 'costume' together.

It was so completely out of left field that it teased an exasperated smile out of Ran. "What the hell, Moca?" they muttered, shaking their head.

"I know, right? I'm a genius," Moca applauded herself, adjusting the mask so that Ran could see the smug smile hiding behind it.

Moca pawed at them, staggering nearer. They rolled their eyes when the girl leaned most of her weight against them. Moca always got like this whenever Ran so much as smiled, acting up and trying to squeeze out a little more from Ran. It was endearing, in a pestering sort of way, though not enough in either direction to stop her. Ran let her do as she pleased.

"There's one more thing, though," Ran objected. That made Moca step back, though there wasn't that much free space to begin with when the bakery was so packed. In the end, the two went with the flow of the crowd, ending up near the bread display next to the counter. Ran gestured to Moca, who looked at herself up and down. "The discount applies if parents brought their children and… you're not a kid."

"Ohh, I see," Moca nodded.

Huh. That was quick. Moca didn't usually agree so easily. "Do you?"

"If I'm not a kid," she continued as if she hadn't heard Ran. "then does that mean I'm an adult?"

Ran already knew that they were playing into another of Moca's schemes. Yet Ran was a teenager with a free afternoon, and as logic usually went with these kinds of things, they played along with it. "No, you're not an adult."

Moca grinned, and at that moment Ran realized a terrifying thought, and it was that their best friend knew just how much she got away with.

She sounded victorious as she decided for them both, "I guess I'm a kiiid, if I'm not an adult."

"You're no different than the eight-year-olds around us."

"Yup. Definitely."

A kind voice entered the conversation, "Nice to see you two getting along as usual."

Donning her favorite apron, Saaya Yamabuki stood on the other side of the glass bread display. Was she working tonight too? Ran regarded Saaya with a nod. Whether it was the lingering smell of bread or her comforting aura, this was someone that Moca liked to be around. And for that reason alone, Ran thought of Saaya as a good person.

"Saaaaya," Moca dragged out the name. She crouched in front of the display, her eyes not once straying from the objects of her interest. "I want bread. The best you've got tonight."

"Sure thing," Saaya laughed. She reached for a brown bag, using tongs to grab the baked goods that Moca pointed at. One of the longer rolls, a few steamed buns, another with a fresh hot dog inside it, and melon pan to go—Saaya knew exactly where Moca's finger would point at next. "You should've brought your mom. We do have a discount happening tonight, you know. And it's not like you to forget bargains."

"I would neeever, absolutely ever, forget something so important," Moca grasped the front of her shirt, as if Saaya had physically wounded her. "Just so you know, I did bring someone with me."

Saaya glanced at Ran, before looking down at Moca. Ran did the same. "You mean Ran?"

"Yup. My guardian," Moca cocked her head to the side. "is someone who watches over me and makes sure I'm making good decisions, right? That's what my sweet, sweet Ran-chan is to me. At just the right temperature, they can be a real treat, you know?"

"Don't talk about me like I'm bread," Ran rebuked, landing a karate chop atop of her head.

"Owwchie, I mean what I said, though," Moca leaned against the glass, slumping forward in defeat.

Ran didn't deign Moca with another response, instead scoffing and leaning back on the heels of their feet. Moca's words dripped with honey, using Ran as nothing more than a ploy to get a discount with the lowest amount of effort. Ran knew this. Moca knew that Ran knew this. It was why Moca didn't apologize, why Ran never got angry—they knew how the other functioned inside and out.

And yet, Ran still liked hearing Moca's words.

For a moment, it felt like Ran was noticed.

So maybe they played into Moca's tricks more often than one would like. At least Ran did it willingly, knowing to what extent the teasing went.

Saaya said something to Moca, but her voice was muffled, and the rest of the bakery sounded far away. It was as if Ran were fading into the background. Moca replied to Saaya and the girl laughed, waving her away and rebuking whatever Moca had implied. Their words didn't reach Ran's ears. The bakery's warm lights and smell of bread seemed to saturate.

Things felt far away, yet too close, at the same time.

It was the curse, Ran was reminded, the horrible thing that made them unable to reach outward.

A young boy shrieked, "Found your weak spot!" before jumping onto Moca's back. His feet kicked at her waist. His arms wrangled her by the neck. Another small girl bumped in, coming to tickle Moca's sides. And Ran watched, either frozen in shock or by an omen, as children assaulted their best friend.

"Jun, you better get off her! Sana, come on," Saaya raised her voice. She placed her hands on the counter, as if ready to vault over it and grab the children herself. Her siblings? Probably. They did resemble Saaya more and more, now that Ran looked closer.

Moca wasn't fazed by any of it. "Hehe… don't worry, Saaya," she stated nonchalantly, gripping Jun's arms around her neck, rendering him unable to escape as Moca stood up. He dangled helplessly, yelling childish obscenities at her. Sana backed away in fear. "These kids have no idea who they're messing with, do they?"

"You're Saaya's friend, which makes you a dummy!" Jun declared, managing to slip away from Moca and land on the ground. He dashed to stand beside his sister.

"You take that back, squirt," Saaya warned.

The two children stuck out their tongues.

"I'm a very hungry werewolf tonight, you see…" Moca started, raising her hands and pawing menacingly at her targets. "hungry enough to eat some kids! Graow!"

"Nooo-!" Sana laugh-yelled when Moca took a step towards them. The little girl bounded away to the nearest hiding spot: behind a Ran Mitake. Jun followed suit, and both siblings glared at Moca before glancing up at who they were hiding behind.

"Uh," Ran formed words in their mouth, but none came out. Was Ran that afraid that some children wouldn't hear them, that their words would fly over their heads? Maybe they didn't want anyone to confirm that the curse was real. What would they do, if it turned out that they could no longer reach out to others with their words? They felt their face pull into a frown.

So, Ran did as they usually did, and kept within themselves.

They didn't need a curse to do that.

Jun looked at Ran as if they said something weird after all, and Sana glanced at her older sister, unsure of how to react. Somehow their reactions were worse than anything Ran imagined.

"Well, now's your chance to run away, isn't it? Shoo!" Saaya made sweeping motions. The children caught onto the cue quickly, bolting through the crowds to get away. Saaya turned to Ran. "I'm so, so sorry! Ever since PoPiPa formed, it's like they've forgotten boundaries around my friends."

"Huh?" Ran said. Their voices sounded distant, like Ran was never there in the first place. Any moment now Ran could blink and disappear altogether. "Oh. It's fine," they somehow answered, eyes downcast. "I'm not that good with kids anyway."

"Nuhh-uh, Ran."

Moca peeked into their vision, hands in the pockets of her denim jacket. When Moca straightened up again, Ran's gaze followed that lazy smile, that crooked plastic wolf mask. If Ran were cursed and haunted and shadowed by omens, was Moca a good luck charm? Sometimes it did feel like Moca was the one thing in Ran's life that could pierce through these invasive thoughts. "I know that voice. What's on your mind?" Moca asked them.

"Just not good with kids," Ran repeated. There were other things weighing on their mind, but this was the most tangible to tackle. "Hey, can I wait for you outside? I'm serious this time."

"Then I'm suuuper serious too," Moca said, not at all serious sounding.

 _You're crossing a line here,_ Ran was ready to rebuke until they saw Moca's expression lift.

It was a look that Moca didn't give often. Some weird amalgamation between looking at Ran with pity, sympathy, and a little bit of love, this side of Moca didn't hide behind pretenses. In place of her secretive smile was a heartfelt one. It was still the same Moca, of course, nestled among every facet that made up who she was. Faced with Moca like this, it felt like they were children again.

In Ran's mind, they imagined a younger Moca stretching out a hand to a likewise smaller Ran.

"No one's thinking as much as you are," Moca stated as Ran, now in high school and older, tightened their handhold. She squeezed their hands. "Not the kids, or the parents, not even me."

"What're you getting at?"

Moca lifted their handhold above their heads, before releasing Ran's hand and letting their arms fall away from each other. Moca shrugged at that. "That you'll be okay. You said it yourself, didn't you? We're not adults yet," she continued. "You don't have to worry too much yet."

What kind of reasoning was that?

If the curse that hung-over Ran were a blanket, then Moca pulled it back to reveal the smoke and mirrors. "You make it sound so easy," Ran murmured. Their eyes blinked rapidly. It was as if the bakery were a new place altogether, and they were seeing it for the first time. "But I guess it could be."

"Feeling okay doesn't haaave to be true if you don't it to," Moca snickered, and suddenly the Moca that Ran and everyone else was used to was back. Before she returned to all her tricks and teasing, though, she removed the wolf mask from around her head and pulled the elastic string over Ran's. Ran peeked out from beneath the mask to a smiling Moca.

"Remember it's still Halloween, so no one can tell if you're playing a trick."

"It's still Halloween, huh?" Ran pondered aloud, raising a hand to touch the werewolf mask that they now wore. They felt their own presence in Yamabuki Bakery and realized that, more than anything, they could take up space. Maybe for all her tricks and treats and bread, there was some truth in Moca's words.

Not that Ran would ever tell Moca that upfront.

But while it was still Halloween, at least, they would be fine.

* * *

Written for the GBP Hallowzine! This was written alongside the Halloween Moca that my friend Dani drew (posted on the twitter dllnllb !). Thanks for reading.


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